Any time you go out into the wilderness, a good knife is an essential companion. Since nature can be unpredictable, it is important to be ready for anything. Just on the off chance that your day hike turns into a multi-day struggle, choose your knife and other gear as carefully as you choose your hiking shoes.
When it comes to pocket knives and multi-tools, Victorinox, maker of the original Swiss Army Knife, has you covered with a wide range of folding pocket tools and, in addition, strong fixed blade knives (the Venture bush crafting collection). You can find many different blade sizes and tools in their lineup, and you can feel confident in the quality of these Swiss-made outdoor essentials.
Why a Good Pocket Knife is Essential for Outdoor Adventures
Many situations can arise where a good knife can mean the difference between survival and giving in to nature. When you enter the wilderness, you are in charge of your safety and survival. You must bring everything you need to stay safe.
Search and rescue organizations suggest that anyone heading out into the wilderness always carry the ten essentials. One of these ten essentials is a good outdoor knife.
A good pocket knife allows you to carve wood, cut cordage, process food, and tackle a host of other tasks. A fixed-blade knife is robust enough to cut firewood, batoning through thick pieces of wood and more. A good fixed-blade knife, like those in the Victorinox Venture collection, can help you start fires. You can use the 90-degree spine and a ferrocerium rod for this.
Depending on your outdoor plans, you should think about bringing a pocket knife and a fixed-blade knife. This will give you more options.
Key Features to Look for in a Hiking and Camping Knife
As you look for an outdoor pocket knife, you need to take several features into consideration. Finding a knife that meets all your needs for outdoor adventures can be daunting. However, Victorinox's large collection of pocket knives and fixed blade knives ensures you'll find the perfect knife for your adventures.
When narrowing down which knife (or knives!) to bring hiking and camping, there are several factors to take into consideration and help you narrow down the choices.
Size & Weight: If a knife is too large and cumbersome to carry in your pocket or on your belt, you might leave it at home because you decide it's too much trouble to bring it with you. Pick a knife that fits all your needs, while still being a size and weight you won’t mind carrying. After all, the best knife is the knife you have with you.
Blade Type: The type of blade plays a crucial role in determining the tasks for which you can use the knife. Folding knives are perfect for small jobs, but you should avoid using them for heavy tasks like chopping or batoning.
Fixed blade knives with a full tang are good for heavy tasks. This is because the blade steel is fixed securely inside the handle and will not close unexpectedly or break easily. That being said, large fixed-blade knives do not do well with fine carving because of their large size, and most fixed blade knives do not come equipped with other tools.
While the type of blade is important, there is another aspect that you need to consider.
You have a choice in the type of blade edge as well. Most knives have a plain sharpened edge which is great for smooth clean cuts, but as useful for cutting things like rope, nylon webbing, or fishing line. For these cutting jobs, you’d want a blade that is either serrated or partially serrated.
The Victorinox One-hand Opening Trailfinder has a combination straight and serrated blade. This offers the best of both worlds. However, this means it does not have a large straight-edge blade.
Durability: Blade steel is a major component in the durability of the knife. Victorinox knives use a proprietary stainless steel alloy which makes their blades hold an edge and also makes them highly resistant to corrosion.
An equally important factor in durability is the knife's overall construction and materials. Your pocket knife won't be useful if it falls apart in your pocket. If your fixed blade knife has a weak handle, it can be more dangerous than helpful.
Every Victorinox pocket knife and fixed blade knife is made in Switzerland to the highest standards, and backed by a lifetime warranty.
Multi-functionality: Victorinox offers many pocket knives with useful tools like saws, scissors, screwdrivers, and bottle openers. Picking a knife with tools you will use is important and can lighten the load by replacing other stand-alone tools and gear in your pocket or pack.
Victorinox Venture Fixed blade knives have features like exposed metal on the pommel for hammering and scraping. The Venture Pro also comes with a fire steel for getting that campfire going.
Grip & Comfort: If the knife is hard to hold, it will be very difficult, and possibly unsafe, to use. This can lead to slips or cause hot spots and blisters on your hand. A knife should always feel good in your hand.
How to Choose the Right Knife for Your Adventure
The first step in picking an outdoor knife is to think about the activities you plan to do in the wild. If you are hunting, trekking, backcountry camping, exploring, or working in the wilderness, you’ll want a pocket knife and a fixed-blade knife. However, if you only ever do short day hikes, a classic Swiss Army knife will serve you well.
Short hikes don’t require much in the way of gear or tools, and the knife you select will reflect that. You should be ready for short-term emergencies. You may need to stay calm and wait for search and rescue to find you. The tasks you will need a knife for are cutting cordage, first aid, minor carving of items like tent stakes, and fire-making.
Once you head out into the backcountry, you’ll be responsible for more of your safety and survival. This is where pairing a pocket knife and fixed blade knife is the name of the game.
Folding knives, even those with locking blades, are not best for heavy camp chores or survival tasks. When processing larger pieces of firewood, the blade of a folding knife is not strong enough to withstand the task. Only a fixed blade will handle splitting large pieces of wood.
One major consideration is for long-distance backpacking trips. Carrying a fixed blade is a good idea, but many hikers like to go as light as possible. This is where the Trailfinder series of knives bridge the gap between folding and fixed blade. While these knives won’t handle the heavy jobs, they will do most things that an ultralight backpacker would expect.
Best Victorinox Knives for Hiking & Camping
Victorinox has many knives specifically designed for outdoor use. These knives can handle whatever you need to tackle in the wilderness.
Pocket Knives: The Swiss Army Knife is iconic, and has found a place in the pockets and packs of millions of people worldwide. Many of Victorinox's pocket tools are small and lightweight, making them great for EDC or light tasks around camp. These pocket tools often include features such as scissors, saws, bottle openers, can openers, and screwdrivers. Some are even equipped with awls, files, corkscrews, and even tweezers.
Camper & Hiker Models: The Camper and Hiker Swiss Army Knife models are designed for use during hikes (where weight is of the essence) and around the campsite. For the times when you are not far afield and don't require a stout blade, they are a great option to consider.
These models include:
- Large Blade
- Small Blade
- Can Opener with Small Screwdriver
- Bottle Opener with Large Screwdriver and Wire Stripper
- Wood Saw
- Reamer with Sewing Eye
- Corkscrew (Camper) or Phillips Screwdriver (Hiker)
- Toothpick
- Tweezers
- Key Ring
Trailfinder Series: If you're looking for something a little more robust than the traditional Swiss Army Knife, a Trailfinder is great choice. It is slim enough to slip into your pocket, but has a slightly larger blade that locks securely into the open position while in use. Its combination straight-serrated blade is handy for cutting rope and netting, as well as for more day-to-day cutting.
The Trailfinder series knives have several key features that make them a great choice for serious adventurers.
- Large Locking Blade (Partially Serrated)
- Phillips Screwdriver 1/2
- Can Opener with Small Screwdriver (3 mm)
- Bottle Opener with Large Screwdriver (7 mm) and Wire Stripper
- Reamer
- Key Ring
- Tweezers
- Toothpick
- Wood Saw
Venture Collection: For those looking to buy a fixed-blade knife for your belt or pack, the Venture collection is a good choice. Fixed-blade knives are a staple for survivalists and bushcrafters and these knives have features the avid outdoors person demand.
The Venture has a 4.13” blade with a full tang that protrudes from the end of the handle with a sharp 90-degree edge and a hex-shaped lanyard hole. You can use this tang to crush nuts and seeds, hammer, scrape wood, or use the hex hole with the optional drill to make holes in wood. The Venture Pro also includes a bow drill divot, tweezers, a ballpoint pen, and fire steel.
Knife Maintenance Tips for Longevity
A knife will last a lifetime, but only if you take care of it. The good news is that the maintenance of Victorinox knives is straightforward enough for anyone to do. What it all comes down to is three things: safe handling, cleaning, and sharpening.
Safe Handling - Safety is the most important thing. It ensures both the knife and you yourself remain in top condition. When you handle a knife in an unsafe manner, you increase the probability of damaging the blade. Remember the following knife safety tips.
- Never cut with the blade inside the area between your groin and knees. This zone is the ‘Triangle of Death.’ A careless cut to the arteries in this region can easily result in death.
- People refer to the area around a person within a full extension of their arm as the ‘blood bubble.’ Anything inside this bubble risks cutting, so don’t let anyone enter the blood bubble while you use a knife.
- Always cut away from your body. The fingers of both your hands should be behind the blade.
- Two places a knife should be: in your hand or in its sheath (folded in the closed position if it’s a pocket knife). Never leave an unsecured knife lying around.
- Do not use a knife for anything other than cutting. Do not use it as a prybar, screwdriver, toothpick, etc. This can snap the blade and result in injury.
- Never try to catch a falling knife.
Cleaning and Storage - Always clean your knife immediately after use. Even stainless steel blades can corrode if left wet and dirty. Cleaning a knife blade is as simple as wiping it down with a damp cloth and then wiping it dry. If there are sticky substances on the blade, you might have to use a soap, or in more extreme cases, a solvent to clean it.
Never put a dirty or wet knife in it’s sheath. If the sheath gets wet or dirty, clean it thoroughly and make sure that it is totally dry before putting the knife back in. You should keep folding pocket knives clean, but they complicate the process with multiple tools to unfold and clean.
After cleaning, always oil the blade and moving parts.
For more detailed instructions on cleaning your Swiss Army Knife, please read our blog article, "How to Clean and Maintain a Swiss Army Knife."
Sharpening - A dull knife is a dangerous knife. Using a dull knife requires more pressure, which makes it easier to lose control and slip, leading to accidental cuts. Sharp knives need less force to cut and make cuts with far more precision. Even if you accidentally cut yourself with a sharp knife, the cut will be cleaner than one made with a dull knife.
For beginners, many knife-sharpening tools are available. These tools have a preset angle, so you don’t have to guess. These tools are often portable, so you can take them out in the wilderness with you.
For detailed instructions on how to sharpen a Swiss Army Knife, please refer to our blog article "How to Sharpen a Swiss Army Knife."
Conclusion
When you are heading out into the great outdoors, you’ll do well to have a good knife in your pocket or on your belt. Victorinox produces a large lineup, and for the outdoors, they offer great options that will suit any outdoor enthusiast.
The Camper and Hiker are great for car campers and day hikers. The Trailfinder series is ideal for serious adventurers, hunters, and long-distance hikers. The Venture series of knives is a great choice for survivalists, bush crafters, and anyone who needs a strong blade.
Shop the complete collection of Victorinox outdoor pocket knives and tools at Swiss Knife Shop. >
